Letter to the Editor: Court's rationale should cover assault weapons

Jan. 12, 2013

Neither grief, national discussion, debate, nor pending legislation is necessary to start a run on weapons and ammunition. Each time a tragedy like Aurora or Sandy Hook occurs, prices of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines escalate. Shortages and back orders develop as worried advocates quickly clear the shelves at stores and gun shows.

It’s past time for Americans to address this issue. We can start with sensible training to ensure that holders of weapons permits are actually trained to use firearms. We need mandatory background checks and registration so that we can keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, substance abusers and felons. Finally we need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines using the same rationale the Supreme Court utilized in the decision United States v. Miller, which banned sawed-off shotguns.